Standard procedure: Screw up and get paid

November 26, 2013

At least in Minnesota and Iowa, we're willing to describe as a fiasco any inexcusable waste of taxpayers' money. That does not occur in Washington.

Among the most disturbing aspects of the disaster that is the Obamacare website (www.healthcare.gov) is the fact Americans know at least $400 million, perhaps $600 million, was wasted on technology that did not work.

Elsewhere in Washington, however, billions of dollars are misspent every year - and government manages to keep knowledge of it from taxpayers. Perhaps that explains the cavalier attitude toward the Obamacare website.

No one has lost his or her job because of it. As far as anyone knows, contractors on the project received full payment, as if the website had worked. No doubt some are being paid more to repair the site.